Red Sox must be better than good

By Kevin McNamara Providence Journal

Wednesday

May 30, 2018 at 6:59 PM

With the Celtics and Bruins shuttered for the summer, New England’s sporting eye now turns to the Red Sox. The good news is these Sox are very good, thanks especially to a vastly improved offense. But the biggest issue surrounding the Sox is their chief competition. Being merely good may not be enough come October.

The start, and a glance at the standings, is impressive.

So are the soaring power numbers, the run differential, Mookie Betts (!) and the positive aura around Alex Cora.

One third into the season things are looking good, very good, with the Boston Red Sox. Only a nudge would nit-pick and look for holes in these Sox, right?

Well that’s where we come in. That’s what we do.

First off, this blazing start isn’t exactly unexpected. The Red Sox took advantage of a ridiculously easy opening to the schedule by ripping off 17 wins in 19 games. Ten of those 19 games came against American League East weaklings Baltimore and Tampa. The Sox also picked up two wins over the Miami Marlins, maybe the worst team in baseball.

Since the 17-2 start, the Red Sox are 22-15. That’s still pretty good, but not nearly impressive enough to keep pace with the Yankees or the Astros.

With the Celtics and Bruins shuttered for the summer, New England’s sporting eye now turns to the Red Sox. The good news is these Sox are very good, thanks especially to a vastly improved offense. But the biggest issue surrounding the Sox is their chief competition. Being merely good may not be enough come October.

“We’ve been very consistent so far. I know it’s only one-third of the season, but it is our third of the season,” said manager Cora. “We’re very proud of how we’ve handled stuff and how we’re going about our business.”

Beginning Thursday night in Houston, the Sox will dig in against the very best team in the American League and maybe all of baseball. The World Series champs haven’t missed a beat behind the bats of Jose Altuve and George Springer and the best starting pitching staff in baseball.

As for the Yankees, they’re bashing their way through the season. Through 55 games a year ago, the Red Sox had belted 51 home runs. Thanks to the superb starts by Betts and J.D. Martinez (both with 17 homers), the Sox totaled 80 at the same point this spring. That’s good for second in baseball, trailing only the free-swinging Yanks (87). Aaron Judge (15), Gary Sanchez (12), Giancarlo Stanton (11) and Didi Gregorius (11) aren’t going anywhere, so with any luck the Yankees and Red Sox will remain in a tight battle all summer.

For that to happen, the Sox must conquer some concerns. First is Betts. Not the rib injury that’s kept him out of the past four games but the fact that he needs to continue what has been an MVP-worthy start. Then there’s Martinez, the free agent slugger who is slugging like David Ortiz in his prime. These two guys are difference-makers and the Sox can’t afford to see either fade very much.

A larger concern is the team’s starting rotation. Chris Sale (5-2) looks good, but isn’t as dominant as last season. Rick Porcello (7-2) is bouncing back from his 11-17 showing of a year ago but rarely stretches beyond the sixth inning. The same goes for Eduardo Rodriguiez (6-1) who looked good in beating the Blue Jays Wednesday afternoon.

The key to the staff’s ultimate success, however, is one David Price. The $30 million dollar man has enjoyed a curious start. It seems he’s developed a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome, due in part to playing too many video games. His fingertips can fall cold, a malady that would get an NFL or NHL player laughed to the curb. At Fenway, everyone chuckles when Price calls himself “the softest guy in this clubhouse.”

Price is 0-for-the-playoffs in his career as a starting pitcher. Can we really trust this guy? Can we trust the bullpen? Bullpens are a funny thing. How they’re managed over a long season is more important than short-term glimpses and Cora needs to keep Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes humming along. As for closer Craig Kimbrell, with just one career playoff save he still needs to show he’s ready for prime time.

Despite the blazing start that has the Sox first in the AL in hits, runs and batting average, baseball operations boss Dave Dombrowski chose to dump middle of the order hitter Hanley Ramirez last week. Hanley (.254 avg, 6 homers) was slumping and the Sox feared a $22 million trigger clause in his contract for 2019.

Only a select few wealthy clubs could wave goodbye to a player in May and eat the remaining $15 million on his deal. The Red Sox are certainly in that category. In fact, they’ve turned into George Steinbrenner’s Yankees. They buy talent to fill holes, price be damned. That’s why Dombrowski owned the freedom to pay $110 million to plug a power bat like Martinez into the lineup.

This isn’t a criticism. It’s smart, especially when you’re the Red Sox and own the highest payroll in baseball at $220 million. That’s $50 million more than the Yankees and $60 million more than the Astros, if you’re keeping score at your piggy bank.

We’ll have to wait until October to find out if all that money was well spent.

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